NEW DELHI: Ending years of speculation, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra formally entered politics on Wednesday with the Congress appointing her general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East. Priyanka's husband Robert Vadra congratulated her on Twitter with a photograph. The mother of two had married to Robert Vadra in 1997, who is embroiled in a land row in Haryana and Rajasthan and is facing probes by the Enforcement Directorate.

On the Twitter post, Vadra wrote: “Congratulations P... always by your side in every phase of your life.”


Earlier today, Congress President Rahul Gandhi also expressed happiness over the formal entry of his sister Priyanka into politics. Rahul said the Congress is fighting an ideological war and the party will not be on the backfoot either in UP or any other state in the country.

“Priyanka Gandhi is highly capable and personally I am very happy with her entry into politics. I have given Priyanka and Jyotiraditya the mission of promoting the ideology of the Congress and the poor. Uttar Pradesh should get what it deserves, “he told reporters.

Priyanka will take over her new assignment in the politically crucial state -- a Congress bastion till the mid-1980s -- from the first week of February, a statement from the party said.

The appointment is being seen as a masterstroke which will boost the morale of party workers in a state where Congress influence has been waning over the years and where the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party have announced a tie-up.

Priyanka Gandhi, who turned 47 on January 12, will assist her brother and Congress president Rahul Gandhi in the Hindi heartland state, which has 80 Lok Sabha seats, the largest of any state in the country.

There had been speculation over her entry into active politics and the party and her mother Sonia Gandhi had said that she would take the plunge when she decides so.